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April 25, 2026

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A person walks past the closed Metropolitan Opera at Lincoln Center on Jan. 7, 2021, in New York City.

Why did the Met Opera lose its Saudi funding deal?

The deal, announced as a nonbinding memorandum of understanding last September, would have seen the PIF inject up to $200 million into the opera institution over the next eight years.

US Ambassador to Lebanon Michel Issa (R) holds a signed "Make America Great Again" hat while (L-R) US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Lebanon Ambassador to the US Nada Hamadeh Moawad listen to US President Donald Trump speak during a meeting with Lebanon Ambassador to the US and Israel Ambassador to the US, at the White House in Washington, DC on April 23, 2026. US President Donald Trump met Lebanese and Israeli envoys at a new round of peace talks Thursday, with Beirut seeking a one-month extension of a

Analysis

Israel fears Trump angling for Lebanon deal to offset Iran missteps

Some Israelis worry the US president might force them to accept an unsatisfactory agreement driven by his inability to secure a tangible achievement in Iran.

In Tel Aviv, reporting on national security, Israeli politics, defense

BAY ISMOYO / AFP via Getty Images

How are Iran-linked tankers still moving through Hormuz blockade?

At least 19 Iran-linked tankers have passed through the US blockade on the strait to exit the Gulf while at least 15 have entered, according to the cargo-tracking group Vortexa.

ATTA KENARE / AFP via Getty Images

Analysis

Israel sees chance of US-Iran deal as almost 'non-existent,' readies for war

As US President Trump makes contradictory statements regarding his intentions toward Iran and the ongoing negotiations, Israel is preparing for the possibility of resuming military operations.

In Tel Aviv, reporting on national security, Israeli politics, defense

Latest News

US boards Iran-linked tanker in Indian Ocean, vows pursuit of 'ghost fleet'

TOWNSVILLE, AUSTRALIA - JULY 14: A US Navy Seahawk helicopter takes off from the deck of the USS Ronald Reagan on July 14, 2017 in Townsville, Australia. USS Ronald Reagan is a 1,092- foot aircraft carrier which carries a crew of 4,539 around 60 aircraft. Exercise Talisman Sabre is the largest combined military exercise undertaken in Australia. The biennial exercise is the principal Australian and U.S. military training activity. (Photo by Ian Hitchcock/Getty Images)

Interview

Olmert: Only Israel-Lebanon deal can curb Hezbollah, occupation 'unviable'

Olmert

Trump says Iran deal could happen 'quickly' as Pakistan readies talks: What to know

US Vice President JD Vance (C) walks with Pakistan's Chief of Defense Forces and Chief of Army Staff Field Marshall Asim Munir (L), and Pakistani Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mohammad Ishaq Dar after arriving for talks with Iranian officials on April 11, 2026, in Islamabad, Pakistan.

Could UAE tap US currency swap line as Iran war strains Gulf economies?

Haruna Furuhashi /Getty Images

United Arab Emirates

Adam Lucente

News and Business Correspondent

In New York City, reporting on regional news, militancy, climate change

Elizabeth Hagedorn

Diplomatic Correspondent

In Washington, DC, reporting on diplomacy, regional politics, human rights

Jared Szuba

Defense and Security Correspondent

In Washington, DC, reporting on defense, national security, military

Joyce Karam

Editor-in-Chief

Rosaleen Carroll

News Reporter

In Washington, DC, US, reporting on the Middle East

Paul J. Saunders

In Washington, DC, reporting on Russia in the Middle East

DELIL SOULEIMAN/AFP via Getty Images

Intel: Blinken urges allies to repatriate IS fighters from Syria

The Syrian Democratic Forces are holding an estimated 10,000 suspected Islamic State fighters, a situation Secretary of State Antony Blinken said is "untenable."

The Pentagon building, located in Arlington County, Virginia, across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C.

US airstrikes hit Iran-backed militia after drone attacks in Iraq

CENTCOM is trying to deter militia attacks without starting a war.

Yemenis inspect the burning wreckage of a drone in the country's capital, Sanaa, on Oct. 1, 2017.

US-made drones downed over Yemen weren't military's, CENTCOM says

The Houthis said they wrecked two US drones over Yemen's contested Marib province.

AFP via Getty Images

US hopeful but 'realistic' on departure of foreign forces from Libya

Joey Hood, the acting assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern affairs, also said the United States expects the elections scheduled for December to take place.

people line up for Pfizer vaccine in Ankara

Congress discusses 'strategic opportunity' for US vaccines in MidEast

The House Foreign Affairs Committee's hearing Wednesday focused in part on the reputation of American COVID-19 vaccines in the Middle East versus Russian and Chinese ones.

Rep. Ted Deutch (D-FL) speaks about his experiences during a trip to Israel and Auschwitz-Birkenau as part of a bipartisan delegation from the House of Representatives, Washington, Jan. 28, 2020.

US lawmakers unveil American hostage task force

Rep. Ted Deutch (D-Fla.) and Rep. French Hill (R-Ark.) announced the Congressional Task Force on American Hostages and Americans Wrongfully Detained Abroad, a bipartisan working group aimed at helping the families of detained US citizens.

Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA) speaks during a news conference to discuss proposed legislation titled Rent and Mortgage Cancellation Act outside the US Capitol, Washington, March 11, 2021.

House votes to repeal 2002 Iraq war authorization

Siamak Nazami (L) and Baquer Namazi (R) are seen in images provided by their family.

Biden urged to secure release of Americans left behind in Iran

Amid intensifying speculation over a prisoner exchange between the United States and Iran, the family of Siamak and Baquer Namazi is appealing to President Joe Biden to secure their release.

US President Joe Biden (R) talks to Russian President Vladimir Putin prior to the US-Russia summit at the Villa La Grange, in Geneva on June 16, 2021.

Biden discusses imperiled Syrian aid at high-stakes Putin summit

The two leaders met ahead of a looming UN Security Council deadline to renew a massive cross-border aid operation that Russia is intent on shutting down.

Michael McCaul

House Republicans cite 2015 law mandating congressional review of any Iran nuclear deal

Republicans say the Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act requires the president submit any deal on Iran's nuclear program to Congress for review. This could complicate the Biden administration's efforts to revive the Iran nuclear deal.

MOHAMMED HUWAIS/AFP via Getty Images

Republican senators ask Biden's UN rep to highlight Houthi rights abuses

Some Houthi officials in Yemen have already been sanctioned by the United States and the United Nations this year.

US President Joe Biden (R) speaks with Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan prior to a plenary session of a NATO summit at the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) headquarters in Brussels, on June 14, 2021.

Erdogan’s meeting with Biden more spin than substance

The two leaders' first meeting as heads of state led to detailed discussions, but there were no breakthroughs.